I was a bit nervous about finding somewhere to stay in Viñales as this was the first stop where I had nothing prearranged and I was arriving after dark. I needn’t have worried; a crowd of people waving photos of their B&Bs mobbed the bus when we arrived so it was easily sorted.

Viñales Valley

This world heritage site is another cultural landscape, cited for the traditional methods of agriculture (including tobacco growing), the vernacular archtecture of the farms and the dramatic beauty of the valley and mountains.

Viñales Valley

I was offered a tour round the valley by horse, which I took so as to see more of it. The girl at the B&B who arranged it for me assured me it would be an ‘automatic horse’ and my twenty odd year absence from the saddle (and that was just pony treking) would not be a problem.

Viñales Valley - me on horse

I spent five hours out in the valley, guided from behind by a young lad whose horse had a traditional unattached saddle and no stirrups. Every so often he’d direct me to turn the horse left or right (so glad I’d learned those Spanish words) but it mostly did seem to know the way.

Viñales Valley

We visited a cave, lakes and a refreshment hut where the proprietor demonstrated rolling a cigar to me and group of French women. I decline the opportunity to have a puff when it was finished but one of them did and the look on her face was hilarious – it was very strong.

Viñales Valley - cigar rolling demonstration

Amongst the landscape are triangular buildings used to cure the tobacco leaves and I managed to just about include on of them in my photographs.